Swimming device



Julyll, 1933. Y .A, J. szUMKowsKl 1 1,917,613

, SWIMMING DEVICE Filed May 9, 1952 MVK j Jf/ ya xj jf j! y action.

Patented July 11, 1933 ALFONS 5'. SZU'MKOWSKI, OF GHICAG, ILLINOIS swMMrNG DEVICE Application filed May 9,1932. Serial No. 610,108.

My invention relates to improvements ink swimming devices in which the primary ob` ject is to provide a swimming garment or float or support a person in water. The airV chambers consist of groups of individual air tubes placed side by side and parallel to the body and tapering down to small air passages where the bends of the body occur while in My second object is to provide a swimming device having the highest degree" of safety, the air chambers of which are arranged. in groups or sections about the wearers body, the sections being separated or isolated from each other by hand operated and specially designed shut-off valves placed between these sections to prevent deflation of the entire device in case of a rupture in any one of the sections and this novel feature of my invention gives the wearer full condence in its safety and reliability.

My third object isto provide a'swimming' device with maximum e ciency introducing the new and novel method of attaching permanently to one vend of the main air'passage Ya hand operated air bulb whereby any amount of air may be injected into the air chambers,

thus imparting to the device the maximumr, 4capacity of air and therefore maximum efficiency. This obviously'does away with the unsatisfactory old process of blowing up the inflatable `device by ones'mouth and breath.

My fourth object of the invention is to provide a swimming device the construction of which is'simple, its combination logical, its price reasonable, efficient and safe in use for the beginner in swimming as well as for. the experienced one for long distanceswimh ming, also comfortable to wear and pleasing in appearance, andvfinally `which can be folded into a compact bundle when notin use. ,Y Y n 1- 'I attain thesel objects by the device illuswhichtratedin the accompanying drawing, in

Figure 1 shows the device when taken off the body and stretched out upon a table and showing only the skeleton or the continuous air tubes and air chambers with` shutoff valves between sections and the automatic air. bulb or pump at one end of theV main tube and the deflating valve atthe other end.v

Figure f2 showsfront View of the device applied onthe body of a person. A y

Figure 3' shows back view oflthe device applied onthe body of a person.` a

Figure t showsconstruction and cross section of the shut-off valves. i

No drawing of the air bulb is shown here as this is commonly used on atomizers and its construction, shape stood.

Proceeding withthe detailed description of the drawing I use similar Vnumerals to refer to similar parts throughout the several views.' i

In Figuresl, 2 and 3 number l'indicates tubular air chambers, similar to short lengths ffl of bicycle innerl tubes, tapering downto l small air passages 2 connected to the main air Vtube 3 and forming a continuous air passage therewith. The main supply air tube 3 generally encircles the wearer-s waist the same as an ordinary belt would but instead of a buckle at'o'ne end I attach to it permanentl ly the mechanical air bulb or pump a and A closed with the screw cap 5; at the other end of the main tube I place the ,deating valve ,Num` bers 8 and 9 are air passages connected with each other and the main air pipe 3 to make 6 and closed with the screw cap Y7.

a continuous air passage to air chambers y1 proJec'ted down to the upper parts of the wearers legs and partly encircling them to `V help float the heavy or mid-portion of the. human body in the water. Number l0 rep-` resents the hand operated shutoff valves placed in the mam rairnpassage 3, showing their relative position with thecgroupsor Vsections of air chambers andclos1ng-in .the

air 0risolating each section from the other and preventing escape of air from the entire Y n device in case of a blow out or rupture of either of the sections.

The above described device, preferably made of rubber or some material impervious to water, is placed upon a base or strips 11- consisting of canvas or some other strong material sewed crosswise to lie upon and about the wearers body in the manner shown in Figures 2 and'. Number 12 shows buckles or some suitable clasps to fasten the ends of strips together on the wearers chest, waist and legs so that the whole swimming garment may be put on and taken olf as any other garment. Number 13 represents bathing trunks or bathing suit over which the swimming garment or harness may be worn.

As illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawing the construction of the valve 10 is shown in more detail. In this figure there is shown a. solid piece of cylindrical rubber 15 which is rig-V idly mounted within the main air tube 3 and made a partthereof. At one end of the body 15 is provided a passage 16, which passage communicates through the downwardly extending passage 17 with the passage 18 which is in communication with the main air tube 3 on the other side of the body 15.. A suitable valve seat 19 is formed in the passage 17. There vis also provided a cut-out portion 20 at the lower portion of the body 15 within which cut-out portion is mounted a membrane 21 of any suitable material, such as thin rubber or the like, said membrane being provided intermediate its ends with a Vsolid tip 22 which forms a valve and is disposed in position to be moved to seat upon the valve seat 19. A screw 28 is threaded through a. bearing 24 formed in the sleeve 25 which surrounds the'body 15, the, tip of the screw 23 being disposed against the tip 22 to urge the latter to its seating position. A knurled head 2G. is provided for the'slcrew 23 to facilitate the turning of the same. The provision of the membrane 21 will insure against the escape of air through the threaded sleeve 24 and its associated screw 23.

Taking up this device in detail and as applied in practice Itake strips of some .strong material such as canvas, the width and number `of the strips depending upon the size and number o f tubular air chambers used, and sew them crosswise to form` a garment or harness to be worn upon ones body, armholes being formed by the strips givingthis swimming device the general appearance of a mans vest. Therstrips going about the neck, chest, waist and upper parts of the legs should be as few as possible'and only enough of them to hold the device'snugly upon the wearers body and to'form a base for the strips carrying the air 'chambers which lie parallel to lthebody and to each other; The

strips encircling the kvbody in the manner described above are just so many belts open in front and provided with either buckles or clasps to fasten them together to hold the swimming garment upon the wearers body as snugly as desired. The network of these strips lie upon the chest and back of the swimmer. In the front the .strips are extended down below the waist line on either side of the stomach in order to prevent the air chambers from protruding on the stomach and down to the upper parts of the wearers legs wli'ere another network of strips appear but in smaller piwniortion. Two strips are placed in the back from the waist down to engage those strips encircling the legs in order to hold the harness from crawling up the body while in the water as shown in Figure 3. No air chambers or strips parallel to the body; are placed at the sides of the-wearer or inner portions of the legs so that the swimmer has a perfect freedom of movement of the arms and limbs. To allow for small variations in the sizes of the wearers, pleatsl may be'introduced in the strips at intervals and sewed down to be ripped and let out wherever necessary, as this action will not interfere with the air containing paris of the device. Vii'here there is an extreme dilference insizes and body peculiarities of the wearers a different size of this device must be made for them.

Proceeding now with the inflatable part of my invention as described in Figure l l place it upon the network of strips just decloth ano sewed down edge to edge with the.

said-base strips, thus forming the inner and outer tubes, the outer tube of cloth prevents a blow out or rupture to the inner tube due to excess'of air or weakness of the inflatable parts of the device. If rubberized cloth is used for inflatable portions of the device then projections of cloth may be left out the full length of air chambers and both sides thus may be attached to base strips which, give the same ellect and protection to air chainbe as above.

.Now, the swimming garment is put on the wearers body over la bathing suit or trunksI and'strips encircling the body and logs fastened by means of buckles or clasps.A At this stage theV deflating valve 6 is closed by its screw cap 7 and theshut-of valves between sections and the bulbcap opened. This from danglingk about the waist.l The shutoilvvalves 10 are now closed by hand by turning the headset screws or plungers. "llie wearer is now ready to go into the water with full conlidence in the safety and reliability ot this swimming device whether he isV only a beginner in swimmingl or experienced one desiring to use it for long distance swimming. y

lt is obvious, should one of the sections be ruptured the buoyancy of tliereniaini-ng sections will be suliicient to allow the swimmer to reach safety. lt is also apparent that eiliciency of this device is still further enhanced by designing individual air chambers as any one ot them on becoming ruptured may be eliminated temporarily by tying up where the rupture occurred thus leaving the balance ot' the sections intact and the entire devicelosing only a small fraction or" its buoy" ancy. The sections are so arranged that should rupture occur in onesection there is no danger ot the swimmer being tipped'over on his head bybeing unbalanced aseuch section is extended along parallel lines to the. body and is deflated its ulllength so that the swininierjs body may be tipped to oneside but never toward his head or feet. rl`he amount of 'tubular air chambers on the front of the device ,is balanced by the size'and nu1nbei: of tubular air chambers on the back oi'ff the garment. e

lt is advantageous to make this device 1n tue loi-ni of a harness comprised et strips instead et' making` it into one com osite bath# ing and swimming suit, because the former may be put on and talenoll immediately when out. ot the water without resorting to privacy and the swimmer may remain on the cli tor other sports and pleasures.

l claim: Y

l. ln an apparatus olf 'the character described, a plurality oi longitudinally disposed air containers arranged in groups and adapted to lie when worn on the body ot a person on the baci; and chest of the wearer, a belt adapted for disposition around the waist of the wearer, said belt forming a main air passage and being in communication with cach of said groups or" air containers, means 1, ided' within sain main air passage for ctablisliing or cutting out communication between said main air passage and any one or said groups of an containeis, one eno or said b .it terminating in a mechanical air bulb by means of which the said air containers may be inflated and the other end et' said belt b ig open and being adapted for closure by a suitable cap, whereby said latter end may be used as a mouthpiece for partially intlating said air containers.'

2. ln an apparatus of the character described,v a tubular water-proof belt adapted tor disposition around the waist of a person, one end of said belt bein gprovided with a me'- chanical air bulb by means of which air may be introduced into said belt,-a pluralityof longitudinally disposed tubular members eX- tending upwardly from saidv belt'and ranged in groups, said groupsbeing adapted l for disposition against the lchestand back ol" Q' the wearer when the device is in position on a person, and a pluralityk oil' longitudinally disposed tubular members extending downwardly from the belt and arranged in two groups, each group being adaptedor disposition on either sideot the stomach of the wearer and extending downwardly along the wearerls legs to a point 'above the knees, means for securing the free-ends of sai'dtubur lar members to each other and to the wearer,

valvevnieans interposed within said tubular belt whereby the same may be actuated to either break or establish communication between any one of said groups or said tubular members and said tubular belt, and means provided in said downwardly eritendin g tubular members intermediate their ends to permit bending ott said members so not to 'interfere with the wcai'eiiin his usual swimming operations. y v Y Y In an appartus oi :the character described, a tubular air chamber adapted Jfor disposi 'on around the waist of a person, a plurality of tubular members extending upwardly lfrom said tubular air chamber and being in direct communication therewith, said tubular members being arranged in groups spaced from each other, t-l'iere being interposed a valve in said tubular air chamber between each of said groups, whereby communication may oe established or broken i between any one group and the remaining vipo iesL

posed for disposition against the sides of the I Y stomach of the wearer, the lower ends of said last tubular members extending downwardly to a point approximately halt way down to the linee oic the wearer, said downwardly eX- tending tubular members being provided intermediate their ends with restricted portions to permit bending of the same at those points whereby the wearing ofthe device will not interfere with the usual swimming operations of the wearer. y Y

d. ln an apparat-us of the'character described, a central air chamber adapted for disposition aroundtlie waist of a person,said central air chamberterminating at one end in a mechanical air bulb by means of which air may be supplied thereto, the other end of said chamber being open 'and being prof vided with a suitable detachable cap for closing' the same, a plurality of longitudinally disposed tubular members extending up- Vwardly from said central air chamber and being in direct communication therewith, said tubular members being arranged in groups and sodisposed as'to lie, when in position on the body of a person, against the chest and back of said person, transversely arranged straps spaced from each other connected to said tubular members, said straps being adapted for detachably securingl vthe apparatus in place on the wearer, a plurality of valves provided in said central air chamber for establishing and breaking communication between any one group of said tubular members and the remaining groups, said valves being interposed between each of said groups, a plurality of downwardlyT extending tubular members in communication witl said central air chamber, said last mentioned tubular members being arranged so as to lie against the side of thestomaeh of the wearer aud to extend downwardly substantially halt` way to the knee of the wearer', and straps connecting the lowermost ends of said downwardly extending tubular members, saidV straps being adapted for disposition around the leg of the wearer for holding said downwardly extending tubular members in an ei;- tended position.

5. In a device of thefcharaeter described, a transversely disposed central air chamber adapted `for disposition around the waist of a person, one end of said chamber being provided with an air bulb and the otherend being provided with a deflating valve, a plurality ol longitudinally disposed tubes extending upwardly from said central air chamber, each of said tubes being in communication with said chamber, said tubes being arranged in groups spaced from each other, the spacing between said` groups be ing such that when in operative position on the body of the wearer said tubes will lic against the chest and back of the wearer only, a valve interposed in said central Chamber between each of said groups of tubes, said valve being adapted for establishing and breaking communication between any one group of tubes and the remainder of the device, a plurality of downwardly extending tubes in communication with said central air chamber, said latter tubes being arranged in groups and disposed when the device is in operative position. on the sides of the stomach et the wearer and tending downwardly to a point substantially half way to t-he linee of the wearer, said last mentioned tubes being provided with restricted portions intermediate their ends to permit bending of said tubes at those points, and means including transversely arranged straps to which said tubes are connected and by means ot which the device may be securely and detaehably tastened on the body of the wearer.

ALFONS J. SZUMKOVSKI.

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